Pineapple (Ananas spp.) is an important food crop. Many varieties of pineapple are used for human consumption, including Smooth Cayenne, Red Spanish, Perolera, Pernambuco, Primavera. The most important variety for use in production of canned pineapple, other processed pineapple products, and fresh pineapple is Smooth Cayenne. Within many varieties there are a large number of clones which have been established in different geographical areas, and which are adapted to production in those locations. Amongst the Smooth Cayenne clones are the Champaka clones which have been used extensively for production of canned and fresh pineapple.
Pineapple is self-incompatible with long periods between successive fruit generations. Consequently, conventional breeding to improve fruit quality has been difficult. Indeed, breeding as a means to develop varieties of pineapple has been generally unsuccessful. There are, however, many traits that would be of interest to introduce into specific pineapple varieties.
For example, it is desirable to introduce agronomic traits such as improved resistance to bacterial diseases, improved resistance to viral diseases, and improved resistance to insects and nematodes. In addition to agronomic traits, it is desirable to modify characteristics of the fruit of interest to consumers (consumer traits) of the fruit, such as sweetness, acidity, and texture. Further, it is desirable to control the ripening characteristics of the fruit. Because of the difficulties with breeding, genetic engineering offers important potential for the improvement of pineapple varieties.